What may seem impossible to people can become possible for God when it accords with His will and serves the salvation of humanity, Serbian Patriarch Porfirije said during a festive Divine Liturgy at Belgrade Cathedral.

The patriarch made the remarks during celebrations for the Feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God, according to the Serbian Orthodox Church.

“What is possible for God is often incomprehensible to us, human beings. And what is impossible for people is possible for God — if He wills it and if it is for the good of creation and for our salvation,” Porfirije said.

The patriarch connected his reflection with the biblical and church tradition concerning Joachim and Anna, the parents of the Virgin Mary. According to Orthodox tradition, the elderly couple, who had long remained childless, received a child from God in their old age.

Their story, Porfirije said, illustrates the meaning of faith as trust in God.

“Faith is the space and instrument through which a person sees much farther than with bodily eyes,” the patriarch said. He emphasized that faith is inseparable from love and involves trusting God rather than attempting to obtain a desired outcome through what he described as a form of “bargaining.”

According to Porfirije, Joachim and Anna did not impose conditions on God. Instead, they accepted His will and entrusted their desires and prayers to Him. The birth of their daughter, the Virgin Mary, subsequently became connected in Christian theology with the salvation of humanity.

The patriarch urged the faithful to follow their example, approaching prayer as an expression of trust and seeking to live according to the Gospel.

He also said that a miracle, in the Christian understanding, is not limited to an inexplicable event, but can also be understood as an encounter between divine love and human faith.

“Such faith and such prayer make everything a miracle in a person's life,” Porfirije said.

During the liturgy at Belgrade Cathedral, the patriarch also ordained Filip Vuletaš to the diaconate. After completing practical service in his diocese, Vuletaš is expected, with the agreement and blessing of Patriarch John X of Antioch and All the East, to serve Serbian Orthodox faithful in Dubai.